This restaurant in Kochi installed a 24×7 public fridge to feed the needy

A restaurant owner in Kerala’s Kochi has come up with a brilliant idea to help the poor by installing a public refrigerator where people can leave food for the homeless and help them satiate their hunger pangs.

Minu Pauline, a former Citi banker turned restaurateur is the brain behind the initiative which was launched on March 23 and has been named ‘Nanma Maram’ which roughly means giving tree.

Minu runs a popular tea stall-cum-restaurant called ‘Pappadavada’ where the fridge has been installed outside its premises in Kaloor. Anyone can come and drop leftover (and even fresh) food for the poor in the fridge and is available 24×7. Homeless people and those struggling to buy food can help themselves to products in the refrigerator.

With this initiative, Pappada Vada aims to reduce the unnecessary wastage of food, so that those in need will not have to starve.

The restaurant will mark each packet dropped at ‘Nanma Maram’ with date and time to make sure stale food is not handed over to the needy.

Apart from this Pappada Vada itself will stock the fridge with 50 food packets on a daily basis for the homeless.

Minu, who quit her job in 2013 to launch her food joint, feels ‘Nanma Maram’ is her way of giving back something to the city, which she said gave her a lot.